What all seemed so clear before
Has now, it seems, become unsure
I hate sometimes, this place I dwell
But always love it, just as well

We play it every summer
With the other people in our street
The buildup is slow
We fuss around, cleaning up
Distract ourselves with domestic chores
From the inevitability of the game
Will it be us this year?
The tension builds, as do the temperatures
We are sent emails - prepare, prepare!
Be ready for the game to begin, stay calm
I'm terrified
Every year is the same, but I'm not leaving
Just another high fire danger day

You pledged your love to me
But lived with someone else
You'd love me till eternity
Whilst loving someone else
A place for us
In time and space
But not amongst
The human race
You loved me when we met
And when we did part
A love of timeless quality
That never got a start

No airbrushing there
Lines radiate from the corner of her eyes
And mouth
Mapping
A lifetime of kissing
Weeping
Speaking
She wears her state of mind proudly
On a face
Framed by a stirling mane
Atop a body well lived
No slave to narcissism
She revels in the joys
Of self discovery
For she
Who knows herself
Content
Will never lack mystery

How long have I loved you?
One lifetime
Many
I see us
In my dreams
Drifting
In a haze of loving
The outside world
Did not disturb
Our rapture
I wake
Alone
Not sad
For I know
Tonight
You will return to me
My dreams
Another night
Of loving

I have known her in many guises
The women who have shaped me
Changed me
Moved me
It begins as beginnings do
Tentatively
Orbiting like an apogee
Peeling back disguises
Finding rhythm in friendships
Cherished like velvet
Until we're smitten
Listening
Poetic survivors
Shaping horizons
Aspiring to visions
Grand
We are honeybees
Devotees

One man and lots of women
Gathered in your kitchen
For a barbecue and luncheon
Full of banter, wit and glutton
Wrecking ***** and chat roulette
And an 80s design vignette
The food was finger licking
And the company uplifting
What congeniality
Thanks for the hospitality